The traditional therapeutic approach to primary musculoskeletal sarcoma has been ablative amputation. The survival rates for these diseases have not appreciably improved in the past 50 years. It is likely that in the next decade adjunctive therapies (chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiotherapy) may suppress the occult micrometastases that account for the current situation. Surgical removal of the primary lesion will likely remain the necessary preliminary step in these solid tumors. The broad objective of this proposal is to examine the thesis that limb-saving local surgical procedures in selected circumstances may offer the patient the same surgical benefit as an ablative amputation. Priscoline angiography and 99mTc-PP radioscanning are correlated with meticulous gross, fluorescent, macroscopic, and microscopic pathologic methods to place these techniques in relevant clinical perspective as to their role in treatment planning. The efficacy of adequate radical local resection will be compared with that of amputation in terms of local recurrence, metastasis, and survival. The role of immediate versus delayed surgery is also examined. The knowledge gained should provide rational guidelines for surgical treatment. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: Spanier, Suzanne; Enneking, William F,; and Enriquez, Pablo, "Primary Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma of Bone." Cancer 36:2084-2098, 1975. Simon, Michael A.; and Enneking, William F., "The Surgical Management of Soft Tissue Sarcoma of the Extremity." JBJS 58-A: 317-327, 1976.